Phoebe can negotiate very well in a hostage situation because she happens to be an expert in the field. She wanted to be in the police since the beginning because she went through such a situation in her own youth when a psychologically ill man entered her house and made her entire family hostage for a long time.
Though not much harm was done Phoebe got touched mentally because of that act and she decided that she will work against such psychopaths when she will grow old. So she joined the police department and proved that she was really fit for the job. One day Duncan Swift got into serious trouble when one of his employees got to the rooftop.
This was for the first time when Duncan saw Phoebe and the way she can operate. The young woman handled the situation brilliantly and proved her true worth in front of the audience. Duncan decided to move forward toward this wonderful woman but Phoebe was not in the mood to establish any kind of relationship. When Phoebe gets attacked a second time in her life, she feels that Duncan is the only one who shows readiness to help her.
Nora Roberts has always kept love and fight scenes together which makes everything look fascinating. Susan Ericsken surely has the voice to deal with such big stories. The fans missed Susan in Year One and Red Lily but here everything has been handled by the narrator on her own without any kind of trouble in the voice at any portion of the novel. Don’t think that the author will give you all the clues on her own rather you got to toil for that.